Writing is the same as music. It’s in how you phrase it, how you hold back the note, bend it, shape it, then release it. And what you don’t play is as important as what you do say.
Interpretation
Writing, like music, involves nuanced expression where both what is included and omitted carry significance.
This quote by Robert Creeley suggests that the art of writing is akin to the art of music, emphasizing the importance of phrasing and the careful selection of words. Just as musicians manipulate notes to create emotion and meaning, writers must consider how they express their thoughts, highlighting the crucial role of silence or omission in conveying a message effectively.
In practice
This quote can be used in a writing workshop to inspire participants to think about their word choices.
I did however used to think, you know, in the woods walking, and as a kid playing in the woods, that there was a kind of immanence there — that woods, and places of that order, had a sense, a kind of presence, that you could feel; that there was something peculiarly, physically present, a feeling of place almost conscious ... like God. It evoked that.
Moon, moon, when you leave me alone all the darkness is an utter blackness, a pit of fear, a stench, hands unreasonable never to touch. But I love you. Do you love me. What to say when you see me.
I get good references from a wide range of music. Something who's been a good influence in the last few years is Qawwali music. If you listen to a Qawwali singer like Aziz Mian - he's like James Brown. Qawwali is like Pakistani gospel-jazz. It's emotional, but it's also improvised, and it's all about that sacred-and-profane tightrope.
Good literature can be created only with something that is different from literature.
Someone once told me that the '…Baby One More Time' video should be me as a superhero fighting a giant robot monster.
The theater requires an essential gullibility that you can't get through life without having. If all you can feel is skepticism-well , you meet people like this. Run away from them. They're not good people.
Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.
Wrestling was like stand-up comedy for me. Every night I had a live audience of 25,000 people to win over. My goal was never to be the loudest or the craziest. It was to be the most entertaining.
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